The department replaces vests on a five-year cycle, a nationally recognized standard, with the current vests dating back to twenty-twenty-one.
Commissioners gave the go-ahead during Monday evening's regular Commission meeting.
The 31 vests will be purchased from Point Blank through the State of Kansas body armor contract pricing agreement. Total cost runs just over $31,000-thousand dollars; however, the department was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in the amount of just over $11,500, reducing the city's out-of-pocket expense to roughly $19,574 from the equipment replacement fund.
The city had previously budgeted $25,000 for the purchase.
